December 31, 2018

It's time for Global A Go-Go's seventh annual Best Of The Rest program. After spending the last two weeks recapping my favorite new releases and compilations of the year, invariably there are a ton of songs that made a big impact on me but didn't get played on either of those programs.

That's what this show is about -- all the great stuff from 2018 that didn't fit neatly into my year-end charts. My favorite singles and EPs of the year, tracks from albums that didn't quite make the lists, that one killer song from the otherwise disappointing album -- you'll hear them all this week.

These aren't holiday leftovers -- every year, I get as much of a charge out of this show as I do from the Top Ten programs, and maybe even more. Tune in and hear for yourself.

December 25, 2018

It's time for show #2 in Global A Go-Go's recap of 2018. This week: my ten favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of 2018, plus ten more honorable mentions.

The great wave of international music rediscovery certainly seems to have crested in 2016. 2017 and 2018 were both down years for compilations, reissues and historic recordings, with fewer titles than in previous years.

The good news is that the quality at the top of the heap remains stellar. This year, Ostinato Records' two ear-opening releases of Sudanese music lead my list -- if you haven't heard the music of Sudan from the 70s and 80s yet, you're in for a treat. And Analog Africa Records keeps finding vital, underexposed Afro-funk, this year in Somalia and Benin.

Click "Read more" to see Global A Go-Go's Top Ten compilations, reissues and historic recordings for 2018 (with links to my reviews):

December 18, 2018

It's the most wonderful time of the year .... That's right, it's the time of the year when Global A Go-Go unwraps its favorite albums of the last 12 months.

This week, it's my Top Ten new releases of 2018, plus ten honorable mentions. Next week, you'll hear my favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of the year. And on January 2, it's the best of the rest: all the great songs that didn't fit onto the previous two programs.

Overkill, you say? No way. WRIR received 772 new world music releases in 2018; that's 41 percent more than we got just three years ago. Who says the music industry is dead?

Then there's all the new stuff that was never sent to the station that I bought or streamed during the year. In fact, three of my top ten new releases are albums that WRIR didn't get promos of. Shape up, music industry!

Add them all up, and you'll see that my top-lists are just five or so percent of all the new music I heard in 2018. That's not overkill -- it's selective company.

Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating -- tune in to Global A Go-Go over the next three weeks and hear for yourself just how good a year in world music 2018 was.

December 11, 2018

Wednesday December 12 is Jamhuri ("Republic" in Swahili) Day, one of three days on which the Republic of Kenya celebrates its independence; the others are Madaraka ("Self-Governance") Day on June 1 and Mashujaa ("Heroes") Day on October 20. Three times the pleasure, three times the fun, I guess.

In honor of Jamhuri Day, Global A Go-Go celebrates with two hours of music from Kenya. I'm not making any attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of Kenyan sounds -- I'll be playing the Kenyan music I dig the most.

And most of that fits into the broad category of what East Africans call musiki wa dansi -- no translation needed, I'm sure. There are a bunch of different genres: benga, Swahili rumba, kamba. They're all guitar-driven, closely related to Congolese soukous and, in my opinion, thoroughly addictive. I'll dip into a few other styles as well: some folky/worldy stuff, soul, funk and even hip hop if time permits.

November 26, 2018

Mauritania (flag pictured above) celebrates its 58th independence day on Wednesday. This large (about the same size as Egypt), sparsely populated (4.3 million people, or less than half the count of Cairo), poor (140th in the world in cost-of-living-adjusted GDP per person) country lies 90 percent within the Sahara Desert.

Mauritania's music reflects its status as the crossroads of North and West Africa. You'll hear a set of that music on this week's program, and you'll be able to clearly distinguish Arab, Berber and West African elements for yourself. It's a rare opportunity to drill down into the musical culture of an under-recognized, extremely interesting country.

Also this week: the greatest band ever to come out of Mopti, the Venice of Mali; folk-rock from both sides of the Mediterranean; and Latin dance-floor fillers from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

November 20, 2018

ARTIST: Vaudou GameTITLE: OtodiLABEL: Hot Casa
The third album by this Lyon, France-based combo led by Togolese singer-guitarist Peter Solo confirms that this is one of the funkiest bands on the planet right now.

This week it's Global A Go-Go's annual day before Thanksgiving show, i.e. the Sitting In Traffic edition of the program. As always, I'll have great music for you while you cool your heels on I-95.

We'll start with some deep roots reggae inspired by a certain Senate candidate who'd like to be in the front row for a public hanging. If you tune in at Willis Road, that should get you to probably about Maury Street.

Next up is a set of klezmer and Balkan fun featuring recent releases by Daniel Kahn, Black Masala and the Lemon Bucket Orkestra. Now you're stuck in some rubbernecking ("gapers' block" if you're a Chicagoan) near the Boulevard.

The second hour starts with a visit to Cuba for some son montuno. You'll wish you were in Cuba -- instead you're in bumper-to-bumper traffic between the Route 1 and Route 301 exits, either of which is a viable alternate route today.

And we'll wrap up this week's show with a set I'm calling "James Brown Ride On To West Africa," including a track from the hot new album by Vaudou Game (pictured above). If my calculations are correct, that should get you to the fringe of WRIR's listening area at the I-295 exit. Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy the drive back on Sunday!

November 12, 2018

Barro (pictured above) is a singer-songwriter from Pernambuco in Brazil's northeast, home to some of that vast country's most interesting pop musicians: Lenine, Nacao Zumbi, Mombojo, Otto and more. Barro's second album, Somos, was released this fall; I think he's going to be Pernambuco's next great export.

Hear for yourself -- I'll play a track from Somos this week in a set of 21st century Musica Popular Brasileira (what Brazilians simply call MPB). Also this week: more from Sudan's golden age; from J Dilla goes Cuban to South African house in five easy moves; and Afro-funk from hither and yon.

First of all, I want to say thank you to the over 530 WRIR listeners who donated more than $45,000 during our Fall 2018 Fund Drive, making this the fifth consecutive drive where we've topped our $40,000 goal. You're the folks who put the power in the Tower of Low Power!

It's not too late to get in on the Fall '18 Fund Drive action. We still have a T-shirt, reusable straw and knit cap with your name on them -- just visit wrir.org and fill out the donation form. If you donated and haven't picked up your swag yet, please email fundraising@wrir.org -- we'll set up a time for you to come by and get your premiums.

This week it's a special All Hallows Eve edition of Global A Go-Go, with special material for the day along with the standard fare. I'll start with a famous Scottish ballad that's set on Halloween; you'll also hear from my favorite Dia De Los Muertos musical artist, Lila Downs; we'll go to the Caribbean for a whole set of songs about duppies and jumbies; and you'll hear one of the most chilling love songs ever recorded, courtesy of Ghana's Ebo Taylor.

October 23, 2018

WRIR's Fall 2018 Fund Drive wraps up on Wednesday October 24 at 11 PM. Many of the folks reading this message have already donated during this drive or are monthly sustaining members -- thank you to each and every one of you who are powering 97.3 FM, Richmond's tower of low power. We can't do it without you!

As for the rest of you, maybe you've been waiting until the end of the drive to contribute. If that's the case, then this is your alarm clock ringing! We're very close to our $40,000 goal -- that means your donation right now can help get us there. For the last 14 years, WRIR has been doing its part to make Richmond a more innovative, inclusive and interesting community. Now we're asking you to do your share to keep people-powered radio at the heart of Richmond's resurgence.

October 15, 2018

WRIR's Fall 2018 Fund Drive is now underway -- we're working to raise $40,000 by Wednesday October 24 to power independent community radio in Richmond for another six months. Thank you for your previous donations to Richmond Independent Radio; I'm writing to encourage you to make a donation once again this fall.

You can make that donation in two minutes by clicking this link: http://wrir.org/donating. Or you can call or visit us between 9 AM and 9 PM during the drive, now through October 24. Our phone number is 804-622-9747; our address is 1621 W. Broad Street, 2nd floor.

October 9, 2018

ARTIST: Daniel Kahn & The Painted BirdTITLE: The Butcher’s ShareLABEL: Oriente
Here’s the fifth album from Berlin’s Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird, released in Germany last year and getting an American push now with the band touring the USA in November.

ARTIST: Kaleta & Super Yamba BandTITLE: “Mr. Diva” / “Hungry Man, Angry Man”LABEL: Yamba
Sometimes it seems like every time I turn over a rock, hiding under it is another American or Brazilian or British or European band that plays Afrobeat and Afro-funk.

October 8, 2018

For years, you've heard me (and my WRIR colleagues DJ Daudi and DJ Graybeard) go on and on about champeta music: how it's the sound of Colombia's Caribbean coast, how it's built from the records that sailors brought from African to Colombia's seaports, how it's some of the world's most awesome dance music.

Now you get to see and hear champeta for yourself -- for free, to boot. Tribu Baharu (pictured above) will be rocking the 14th annual Richmond Folk Festival this year, performing on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday evening on downtown Richmond's historic riverfront. And you'll hear them recorded live in WRIR's Studio C on Daudi and Graybeard's The Motherland Influence radio show, Sunday October 21 during WRIR's Fall '18 Fund Drive.

This week, I'll give you a taste of Tribu Baharu to get you motivated to see them at the Folk Festival, and I'll feature three other artists that I'll certainly be catching at this year's festival: Sona Jobarteh from The Gambia, the world's foremost female kora player; the Puerto Rican salsa band Orquesta El Macabeo, who played live on Global A Go-Go three years ago; and the kings of Jamaican nyabinghi drumming, Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus.

October 1, 2018

Sorry to say, it's once again time to pay tribute to a Global A Go-Go inspiration who's shuffled off this mortal coil. Two weeks ago it was Rachid Taha; this week it's trumpeter/conguero Jerry Gonzalez, who died in a house fire at his home in Madrid on October 1.

I came to world music from jazz, and Jerry Gonzalez is one of the players who led me there. He grew up in New York City in the 1960s playing both jazz and Afro-Latin dance music. When Jerry was 21, he was simultaneously playing the cuchifrito circuit and working with Dizzy Gillespie's combo. He was looking for something more: he wanted both the freedom of jazz and the deep roots of his Puerto Rican folklore, all in the same music.

He found it in the bands he started and joined: Conjunto Anabacoa, Grupo Folklorico Y Experimental Nuevayorquina, Manny Oquendo's Libre, his own Fort Apache Band. Just when you thought he had it all figured out, he moved to Spain in 2000 and somehow added flamenco to his unique cultural hybrid.

You'll hear a sampler of music from Jerry Gonzalez' career this week on Global A Go-Go. Also this week: celebrating the birthday of Vincent "Randy" Chin, one of the unsung heroes of reggae; new Afro-funk from Kaleta & Super Yamba Band; and a set of electro-cumbia to send you home dancing.

September 25, 2018

ARTIST: SarazinoTITLE: Mama Funny DayLABEL: Cumbancha
Lamine Fellah is as cosmopolitan as they come: the son of an Algerian diplomat, he grew up in Spain, Switzerland, Burundi and Burkina Faso; he moved to Canada for college, and since 1996 he’s been based in Quito, Ecuador.

September 24, 2018

Newpoli (pictured above) is a band from Boston featuring three Italian immigrants (plus one from Sweden and one from Finland, just because) who play the swirling, energetic, hallucinatory traditional music of Apulia, the heel of Italy's boot.

They call their sound "Mediterranean Pulse"; you could also call it folk-rock, Mezzogiorno style. You'll hear a track from Newpoli's superb forthcoming album on this week's show, in a set you could call folk-rock, Global A Go-Go style.

Also this week: the music of Colombia's Pacific coast; crossing the Balkans, from Romania to Macedonia and from Toronto to DC; and a set of global dance pop to wrap things up. 25 countries are represented this week, making this one of Global A Go-Go's most global editions ever.

September 19, 2018

ARTIST: Dur-Dur Of SomaliaTITLE: Volume 1, Volume 2 & Previously Unreleased TracksLABEL: Analog Africa
Five years ago, Awesome Tapes From Africa introduced the rest of the world to the Dur-Dur Band, a supremely danceable combo from 1980’s Somalia that brought together disco, funk and local rhythms from the Horn of Africa; four distinctive singers backed by a well-drilled seven-piece ensemble.

ARTIST: NewpoliTITLE: MediterraneoLABEL: Beartones
Even though I’m of Southern Italian heritage, I’m a newcomer to the swirling, energetic, hallucinatory traditional music of Apulia, the heel of Italy’s boot and the birthplace of my father’s mother.

ARTIST: Peregoyo Y Su Combo VacanaTITLE: Mi BuenaventuraLABEL: Vampisoul
When you think of Colombian music, what comes to mind? Maybe cumbia, champeta and the other Afro-Colombian styles of the Caribbean coast. Or maybe salsa, since Cali is now arguably the world capital of that pan-Latin genre.

ARTIST: Michi Sarmiento Y Su Combo BravoTITLE: Salsa Con MonteLABEL: Vampisoul
Vampisoul’s Discos Fuentes reissue series continues with this dancefloor filler. Michi Sarmiento is part of the Discos Fuentes family: his father Climaco was an in-house arranger there after playing in Lucho Bermudez’s legendary porro orchestra.

ARTIST: SuperfonicosTITLE: SueltaLABEL: self-released
Here’s the debut EP from Superfonicos, a band organized by four players active in the Austin TX scene who are of Colombian heritage and wanted to start a combo that focused on Afro-Colombian rhythms like cumbia and merengue.

September 17, 2018

Rachid Taha (pictured above) passed away last week. If there's a "most Global A Go-Go" musician of all time, it would have to be this son of Oran, Algeria who came with his parents to France at age 10.

He was a punk rocker and a dance-music DJ, he was inspired by political artists like The Clash and Linton Kwesi Johnson, and his music always spoke to the universal immigrant experience. He was even the same age as me. Losing Rachid Taha is a real kick in the stomach.

This week on Global A Go-Go, I'll curate a set-long tribute to Rachid Taha -- five crucial songs from across his career, some of my favorites and ones that highlight his significance as a cultural figure. Also this week: some deeply spiritual jazz, funk from East Africa, and Latin music al y con monte.

September 11, 2018

Ivan Duran (pictured above) is one of the most important producers in world music today. He spearheaded the international recognition of Garifuna music, he's responsible for what Amazon.com's editors named the best world music album of all time (Watina by Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective), and he also helmed the first European platinum record ever by a Trinidadian artist (Calypso Rose's Far From Home). And he does it all from his label and studio in his hometown of Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Belize, population 8,000.

This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear a sampler of music produced by Ivan Duran and Stonetree Records, including the two albums mentioned above and his latest find, Guatemalan singer Doctor Nativo. Also this week: norteno music from the Texas-Mexico border, more rockin' sounds out of Africa, and Nickodemus takes it to the house.

September 3, 2018

Ellie Mannette (pictured above), the father of the modern steel drum, died last week at age 90. More than anyone else in the world, Mannette made the steel pan, the national instrument of his native Trinidad & Tobago, into a serious musical instrument.

He was the first to fabricate a drum out of Trinidad's ubiquitous 55-gallon oil barrels, he was the first to make the drum surface concave, and he built the first pan with all the notes in the chromatic scale so it could play any melody in any key.

Mannette spent most of his career in the USA: he helped develop the US Navy Steel Band in the 1960s, he began teaching steel pan tuning at West Virginia University in 1991, and his foundry in Morgantown produces most of America's steel drums.

In honor of Ellie Mannette, this week on Global A Go-Go you'll hear a few of my steel pan favorite, and some calypsonians singing in praise of the pan. Also this week: Turkish pop, folk and rock; Cuba from tumbao to timba; and some Balkan beats to get you moving.

August 27, 2018

Have you (like me) been waiting eleven years for a new studio album from Manu Chao? I've got just the thing to tide you over: the superb debut recording by Guatemala's Doctor Nativo (pictured above). And I'll play some other musica mestiza stalwarts, including Chao his own self.

Also this week: when British folk meets West Africa, more of the mindboggling music of Sudan's golden age, and a set of roots reggae featuring two tracks from 17 North Parade's excellent new Johnny Clarke compilation.

August 26, 2018

ARTIST: Alba Griot EnsembleTITLE: The Darkness Between The LeavesLABEL: Riverboat
Mark Mulholland is a Scottish singer-songwriter-guitarist who keeps his passport handy: he’s lived and worked in most of Western Europe, Haiti and now Bamako, Mali, where he connected with ngoni player Yacouba Sissoko of the Afrocubism project.

ARTIST: Doctor NativoTITLE: GuatemayaLABEL: Stonetree
Ivan Duran of Stonetree Records is the producer who put the Garifuna sound of Andy Palacio, Aurelio Martinez, the Garifuna Collective and Umalali on the world music map.

ARTIST: various artistsTITLE: Two Niles To Sing A Melody: The Violins And Synths Of SudanLABEL: Ostinato
Once upon a time, there was a golden age of pop music in Sudan. It was the years between 1969, when Gafaar Nimeiry came to power, and 1983, when Nimeiry’s government swung from socialism to Islamism and imposed Sharia law, which essentially made music illegal.

August 7, 2018

ARTIST: Lemon Bucket OrkestraTITLE: If I Had The StrengthLABEL: Six Degrees
Toronto’s Lemon Bucket Orkestra (LBO) is an 11-piece ensemble that describes itself as “guerrilla-folk party-punks imprisoned and liberated by Eastern European folklore.”

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GLOBAL A GO-GO'S HOST

... hosts Global A Go-Go, a weekly two-hour world music radio program that originates in the studios of WRIR 97.3 FM Richmond Independent Radio. Bill is also WRIR's Assistant Music Director for World Music.